“For many companies, the mere prospect of remaking traditional products into smart and connected ones is daunting. But embedding them into the digital world using services-based business models is much more fundamentally challenging. The new business models impact core processes such as product management, operations, and production, as well as sales and channel management.”

“According to the research database of the analyst firm Machina Research, there will be approx. 14 billion connected devices by 2022 – ranging from IP-enabled cars to heating systems, security cameras, sensors, and production machines.”

“Managers need to envision the valuable new opportunities that become possible when the physical world is merged with the virtual world.”

“In order to provide for the IoT’s multifaceted challenges, the most important thing to do is develop business ecosystems comparable to a coral reef, where we can find diversity of species, symbiosis, and shared development.”

“From what we have seen, IoT entrepreneurs also need to follow exploratory approaches as they face limited predictability and want to minimize risks, preferably in units that are small, agile, and independent.”